The Lucky Ones
by Speakfire
Summary: Addy finds herself among the few survivors that are lucky enough to make it off of Caprica alive following the Cylon attacks.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: While this story takes place in the confines of the Battlestar Galactica Universe, I don't own the characters or the Universe or anything else. I am not making a profit from this, and this story is purely for entertainment.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

How odd that Addison Lynford was helping her father plant seeds to grow in the garden the day the world died.

Her knees dug into the moist loam as she faced her father, watching as his strong calloused fingers gently pushed the soil aside to make room for the seeds. He didn't say it now, but she knew what he was thinking, as he'd only said it about a gazillion times before when she helped him in his work. _Plants aren't Cylons, you know. You have to give them some love and a soft touch if you really want them to do their best for you._ There must have been at least a cubit's worth of truth in that, too, if the flourishing garden around them was proof of that logic.

True, it wasn't really _his_ garden; it belonged to his employer, Margaret Currington. He'd worked for the rich old broad as her gardener for as far back as Addy could remember. But it may as well have been his, since he'd put his heart and soul into every plant, bush and tree growing on the vast expanse of property.

Addy reached into the pocket of her work dress, groping around for the small seeds. Finally withdrawing a couple, she dropped them into the hole, commenting, "I hope these grow up to taste as good as the strawberries we had this morning for breakfast. They were so sweet," without looking up. "Do you think they will?" she wondered as she waited for him to cover the seeds. But his hands remained lax, so after a moment, she covered them herself before wiping the grime onto the skirt of the rough cotton fabric . "There," satisfaction tinged her voice as she spoke, then glanced up at him.

"Dad..?" Whatever question had been posed on her lips turned to dust when she saw his expression. She'd never seen him look like that before, look so scared... no, he was terrified. His gaze was focused on some point just beyond her right shoulder, and she turned her head to look as well. Her heart shriveled, horror at the sight of a massive cloud ballooning up on the horizon causing her mouth to go dry and amplifying the painfully quick thuds in her chest. Faintly, she heard herself ask, "Is that Caprica City?..." and she jerked backwards, blinking at a bright flash of light. When she opened her eyes and looked back, a second mushroom shaped cloud had appeared next to the first. She watched, mesmerized as it slowly expanded and rose skyward.

Thad Lynford lurched to his feet, hauling his daughter up as he ordered hoarsely, "Get to the cottage. Grab some clothes. Enough stuff to put into a backpack.. _No more._ We have to be able to move fast. I'll get some stuff together. Hurry."

Addy nodded her head jerkily, and then took off at a run for the gardener's cottage, which would be considered a sizable house anywhere else but on Currington land. Her father's longer strides helped him reach their home before she did, but only by a couple of steps. He veered into the living room to turn on the television, adjusting the volume so it would be clearly heard through out the house, as Addy ran up the stairs to her bedroom. Her oversized backpack was still slung over the back of a chair, from when she'd come in from school a few days earlier. She upended the books and other contents onto the bed, and then rummaged in her dresser for clothes.

_What does one pack when the world is coming to an end? _she thought, and after a moment's hesitation, grabbed up a few pairs of underwear, bra. Thick socks, it was still fairly chilly this time of the year. A pair of well worn but comfortable khaki pants. A short sleeved shirt.. a thick sweater. As she stuffed those into her backpack, a picture on the top of the dresser caught her eye. Taken late last year after her fourteenth birthday, it showed her mother in the full dress uniform of the Colonial Fleet Marines, her father looking uncomfortable in the suit with the ridiculous tie Addy had given him. And her, wild brown hair temporarily contained with a blue ribbon, and a cheerful grin on her tanned face, brown eyes sparkling... She picked it up, running a finger over the edge of the frame, then added it to the contents of the backpack.

Downstairs, she could hear the TV blaring, "...official confirmation that the spaceports have been hit. No spacecraft left that can leave Caprica. Our best advice is to stay inside, or if you must leave, head out into the country..." Because the cities were being nuked into oblivion, Addy suddenly realized, and her heart clenched again in her chest, so hard it hurt and tears came to her eyes. She drew in deep, slow breaths, trying to calm herself and find her center, the way her mother had taught her during all those stupid exercises. After a few moments, she felt well enough to continue.

She looked around the room one last time, then strode over to the bed to grab up her journal and a novel she'd just started from among her school belongings. To the closet for her red jacket and then that was it. Nothing else she wanted to bring, or thought was worth bringing at least. Not that she could remember, anyway. No doubt once they left, she'd realize she'd forgotten something important.

Leaving her room, Addy thumped down the stairs and went into the living room just in time to see the screen go white with snow, the fuzzy sound of static filling the room now. Her father was standing behind the couch, white and shaken, his gaze on the screen. After a moment passed during which he didn't acknowledge her presence, she said softly, "Dad?" causing him to start and look at her. "I uh, I am ready to go," she hefted her backpack.

His breath hissed out, a long slow exhalation. "All right," he said quietly, stuffing her mother's field infantry medkit into his pack before tying it shut and picking it up. "Let's go." Then he turned away from her, heading outside. She followed him out to the car.

They drove away from Caprica City, or what was left of it, heading further into the rolling hills of the country for as long as they could, which was an hour or so. After that, the roads were too congested with people and vehicles to drive anymore. So they abandoned the car in the middle of the road, jammed in among many others. And then they walked, leaving the road and most of the haggard looking people. Neither of them said much. What was there to say, really?

Addy's chest hurt again, and her back and her feet and her head and pretty much every part of her body, from the brisk walking pace, the weight of the backpack, the stress, the worry. She kept her head down and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other on the way up hills, trying a rolling walking pace on the way down them.

Finally, she could stand the silence no more, and said flatly, "It's the Cylons, isn't it?"

Giving her a quick glance, Thad nodded after a moment. "Yeah. Yeah I'm sure it is."

Then she asked the question neither of them had been willing to broach. "You think Mom is ok?"

He was a longer time in answering that question, but finally responded, "I don't know. She was on that escort duty to Picon, which means at least she wasn't here."

"She's ok. She is probably out there kicking some Cylon ass," Addy stated, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt.

That at least caused a chuckle to emerge from her dad, and he slanted a grin toward her. "I'm sure she is. We just have to figure out how to get off this planet and find her."

The flash of another nuke off to their left caught their attention, and Addy met her father's worried eyes as he said, "That one was closer... they must be moving further away from the cities now." Their walking pace quickened a little more.

Addy was on the verge of saying something when she saw something flying through the sky. She clutched at her father's arm, mouth dropping open and pointing upward. Was it a Cylon?...but no, the unmistakable form of a small Colonial ship came into view, trailing smoke as it headed toward land in a controlled descent before vanishing over a hill a mile or two away. Not crash-landing then, but damaged at the least. _A Raptor_, Addy thought, pulling the name of the small scout class vessel out of her memories. And it could fly...

The Lynfords weren't the only ones to come to that conclusion apparently, for in the distance they could see a handful of people running toward where the Raptor was headed toward land. They both broke out into a run, and from there it became a race to see who could reach the small ship first, father and daughter or the increasing number of other people now running toward the landing site.

Addy tried to settle into the long loping jog she'd be running if her mother was here, and they were doing laps around Old Lady Currington's land. It was easier said than done though, especially the weight of the backpack slapping on her back. She was doing better than her father at least, his breath was coming raggedly, but he refused to slack down, utterly focused on reaching that lone ship.

It seemed like an eternity, but in reality it was probably less than fifteen minutes before they were within sight of the Raptor. Two figures in Colonial fleet uniforms were standing in front of the ship, and both had their pistols drawn, pointed out toward the people rushing down the hill. _Why are they pointing their weapons at us?_ Addy wondered exhaustedly, and then she realized. The ship was small, and there were probably fifty people heading toward it, maybe more. There was no way it'd hold all of them.

They reached the backside of the mob of people just in time to hear a gunshot, and both father and daughter ducked down before slowly standing up, and looking toward the two pilots. _Pilot and ECO rather, _Addy thought. The shorter one was a dark-haired woman, her brows drawn into a worried frown. Her limping crewmate was much taller, and a bloodied cloth tied around his thigh covered some injury sustained.

The tall man waved his gun around as he called out, "That's as close as you get - Okay? Let's just settle down here. Settle down, and no one gets hurt." People began to mutter angrily, pressing forward.

One man desperately waved a wad of money, "Please, I've got to get to port. I'll give you fifty thousand cubits!" A woman shouted over that offer, "Sixty thousand!"

Thad looked hopelessly down into his daughters eyes. If these Colonials decided to take passengers based on who paid the highest amount, there was no way either of them would ever leave Caprica. But then the man said, "We're not taking money! This is not a rescue ship. This is a military vessel! We are not taking money!" he repeated. Then the crowd surged forward in fury, only to recoil and cry out in alarm as the woman raised her weapon and shot into the air.

Some of the people in the crowd cursed, and others moaned. A woman's voice clearly rang out, "But what about the children?" Immediately, others took up the cry, "Please, take the children," Addy started as she realized that her father's voice was among those pleading with the two Colonials.

"All right, all right!" the uniformed woman said, though she didn't lower her gun. "Children first. _Children_," she said firmly, darting a quick glance at her surprised crewmate.

Immediately, Thad unshouldered his pack and pushed something into her startled hands. "Here," he said roughly, not meeting her eyes. "I was going to give it to your mother when I saw her again... I think you should give it to her instead."

Her chest hurt again, unsurprisingly. "Dad... I am not going to leave you here," Addy stated, her voice quavering as tears began to stream down her face unbidden.

"Yes you are. You have to. I love you..." he couldn't go on then, and gave her a last tight hug before pushing her toward the front of the crowd with the other children before the two Colonials could change their mind.

Addy walked numbly to stand beside the other children behind the two officers, all but one tall boy appeared to be younger than her fourteen years. She kept her eyes fixed on her father's face as the dark-haired woman turned to look over them before announcing, "All right, we can take three more people." Hands shot up into the air, including her father's, volunteers to be among those select three.

"Why only three?" someone asked derisively.

"That's the maximum load if we're gonna break orbit," the ECO announced, face grim.

An angry looking man in a blue sweatshirt right in front of the injured Colonial growled out, "So who chooses the three? You?"

"No one chooses," the woman responded immediately. "No one. Lottery." Her crewmate nodded agreement. "Everyone gets a number. We put them in a box, and pull out three. That's it. No arguing, no appeals."

It was quiet for a few moments as the crowd thought it through. A slim chance was better than no chance, to Addy's way of thinking at least. Maybe her father would be one of those...

Then the tall officer said, "And I will shoot the first person who tries to board before then," lifting his gun slightly to make the point.

"Helo, get out your flight manual and tear out the pages," the dark-haired woman ordered. After giving the crowd in front of him a hard stare, he limped back a few steps, and Addy was among those who stepped to the side to allow him access to the interior of the Raptor.

The next few minutes were excruciating for everyone. The ECO named Helo counted the crowd, and neatly wrote the numbers on two pieces of manual paper. One for the emptied out toolbox that would serve as the 'hat', and one for the 'contestant'. The pilot, who's name was Sharon, kept her gun pointed on the crowd to keep them at bay.

When all the numbers had been handed out, Sharon said, "Ok let's get this over with. First number. " She reached in and pulled out a scrap of paper, reading it carefully before announcing, "Eighty-seven. That's eight seven." A few people moaned, shaking their heads, but a surprised looking older woman clutching an armful of books to her chest said, "That's me.. that's my number." She stepped forward eagerly, eyes glistening with tears as she showed her number to Helo for verification.

"All right, stand over there," he nodded, gesturing toward Addy and the rest of the children.

"Next, one twenty-seven. One two seven."

A young woman in the front of the crowd gasped, waving her piece of paper. "Here... thank the Lords of Kobol," she stammered as Sharon waved her forward, and gave her piece of paper to the injured ECO. "Thank you, thank you," the woman kept babbling under her breath, hugging herself.

When the third number was called out, a groan emerged from the remaining people unlucky enough to have had the wrong number. No one immediately stepped forward with their slip of paper clutched in white-knuckled hands, surprisingly. Addy's father met her gaze and merely shook his head and shrugged. He would not be among those joining her on the little ship. Her vision blurred with tears again, and there was a roaring sound in her ears.

There was some confusion then, as Helo addressed someone in the crowd, some guy named Gaius Baltar. The name was vaguely familiar to Addy, he was some sort of celebrity from Caprica City or something. No, a doctor maybe. He walked forward leading an old woman, who's beaming smile indicated she had been the one holding the last winning number.

More angry voices rose up as the injured ECO suddenly announced that he would be giving up his seat to the doctor. Even his pilot looked stunned by that announcement, but as Helo gestured toward the horizon, toward the many mushroom clouds still blooming as Caprica was bombarded, he said, "Look at those clouds. Look at those clouds Sharon, and tell me this isn't the end of everything."

Addy focused her gaze long enough to look as well, and it was as if someone had tossed a bucket of ice cold water on her. She shivered, _He is right. This is the end of everything._ She supposed she had been thinking that it was just Caprica City, that somehow, there was a safe place to go on Caprica, and get far enough away and just go back to normalcy. But there was too much destruction, there were too many clouds. And there would be radiation...

As though he could read her mind, Addy's father lifted his pack, opening it long enough to reveal the medkit inside before quickly closing it again, mustering a reassuring smile for her. Anti-radiation meds were standard in that kind, the military ones. So there was a chance... of course there was a chance. This Raptor would take them off the planet, and then they'd meet up with the Colonial fleet and her mom, and they would all come to Caprica and kick the Cylons all the way back to whatever godsforsaken rock they had crawled out from under this time.

"Get on board," Sharon said abruptly to them, her dark eyes on Helo as he limped away from the Raptor holding a red medkit that was identical to the one that her father had just flashed her. So he was staying and letting that guy Gaius Baltar take his place in the Raptor.

Addy wanted to shout, _Why take him, why not my father?_ at the injured ECO, but bit her lip as she turned to clamber up the ramp into the small vessel. It was amazing enough that the injured officer would even be willing to give up his seat for a complete stranger. Incredibly brave. Incredibly stupid.

_This guy Baltar better be worth it. Worth the loss of the ECO, at the least, cause he'll never be worth leaving my father behind for._ She glared balefully Gaius instead as she settled into the cramped confines of space behind the pilot's chair as Sharon sat down and begin checking the instruments, prepping the ship for takeoff, while a boy who had claimed the copilot's seat watched. Baltar was standing at the ramp of the ship, looking out into the crowd of people at... something. She couldn't see what.

Then the ramp began to hiss closed, rising to seal them into the ship, and Addy stood up , trying to keep her father in her sight for as long as possible. He lifted his hand in a farewell wave, and mouthed something, but she couldn't tell what. Then the hatch closed.

The Raptor slowly lifted skyward, and then lurched to one side as if knocked off balance by added weight, but Sharon must have recompensed somehow, for in a moment the flight turned smooth. From her position behind the pilot's seat, Addy could see as the small ship turned once, showing those left behind, her father, Helo, and all the others slowly backing away. There was a bloodied body on the ground in front of the ECO now, the man with the blue sweater. Blue and blood-red sweater.

The very last sight she had of her father, he was shielding his eyes from the dust blown up by the Raptor's engines as it rose. Tilting in the air as it lifted higher into the atmosphere, the view out the front window shifted to the blasts of the still-falling nukes, and the blaze of fire and ash that followed in their wake. Then they left Caprica, or what was left of it, behind.


	2. Chapter 2

Addy crouched back behind the pilot's seat, hunching down and drawing her knees in close to her chest as the Raptor achieved escape velocity and sped toward outer space. It was very quiet in the cramped confines of the cabin, the silence disturbed by occasional sniffles and broken sobs from the little ship's occupants. Even the pilot, Sharon, seemed to be having trouble controlling her tears at first, but soon activity of flying the ship away from Caprica as quickly as possible distracted her from the grief of leaving her ECO and friend behind. She put the thrusters of the Raptor at maximum levels to build up as much sub-light speed as possible, then silence filled the cabin as the engines off. Addy and the other passengers looked toward their pilot with surprise and fear. Did they just loose power? Were they drifting aimlessly now, easy targets?

"We're going to coast for a while. It will help us avoid to detection and conserve fuel," Sharon announced quietly. "With the engines shut down, they won't give off any power signatures for the Cylons to follow, so we should be safer. When we're farther away, we'll launch a communications pod and hopefully a Colonial ship will come pick up our signal. We don't really have the extra fuel to go anywhere in particular."

A collective breath of relief escaped the small group of Caprican survivors.

Addy's hand tightened momentarily into a fist around the whatever-it-was that her father had given her. She wasn't quite willing to look and see what it was just yet. It was small, and metal. That much she could tell from how it pressed into her palm.

Using her other hand to brush her dusty hair away from her face, she looked at the others who were huddled together, shoulder to shoulder. Of the six other children, none seemed to be younger than six or seven years. _The littler ones wouldn't be able to keep up running for so long_, Addy suddenly realized, remembering her exhaustion after a few hours of fleeing the nukes. Two girls and five boys. Well, three girls, counting herself.

The bookkeeper, as Addy thought of her, had her books piled on her lap, hands white-knuckled around them as though she were clinging to whatever knowledge they contained for dear life. She could just make out the words on the spine of one, and shook her head as she recognized the title from one of her classes at school. _An Exposition on the Prophecies of Pythia_. Religious books then. Like that was going to do her a whole lot of good out here in the middle of a war.

The long haired young woman was staring off into space, absently rubbing her slightly rounded stomach and mumbling to herself. Her thick accent seemed to indicate she was from Geminon. And the old lady who was the last to board was fast asleep, her glasses propped up on her head, barely visible against the grey of her hair.

Gaius Baltar was pressed up against her shoulder to Addy's immediate right, and seemed to be doing his best to avoid meeting anyone's eyes. He looked just as tired and upset as the rest of them, but there was a nervous tension to him that the girl could sense through the heavy fabric of her dress sleeve. He was also very fidgety, which made sitting beside him uncomfortable as well as irritating.

Doing her best to ignore him, Addy leaned her head back against the framework of the cabin, closed her eyes. She fell into the dreamless sleep of the exhausted almost instantly.

"Three, two, one, launch."

Sharon's count down woke her a short time later. The girl blearily opened her eyes, and shifted to her left to peer around the edge of the seat. She could just barely see the communications pod shooting away from the ship into deeper space. "Drone deployed and transmitting," the pilot said, her eyes watching the console.

"So now they'll come and find us?" the boy in the right hand seat said, looking hopefully toward Sharon.

_Lords of Kobol, I hope so, _Addy thought to herself, and tried to stretch as best she could, one limb at a time, while half-heartedly listening in on the conversation. Apparently, the kid up front had a father in the fleet, presumed dead. His name was Boxey, that part she got for sure. _What a stupid name.. and I thought Addison was bad_, her lips twisted into a wry grin that faded quickly. The Raptor and pilot were both based out of a ship called the _Galactica_. A battlestar. And one of the first twelve. Addy hadn't even realized any original battlestars were even still operational.

The quiet talking came to an end soon after. She was on the verge of falling asleep again when Gaius Baltar started, no, literally almost jumped out of his skin, knocking her to the side. She glared at him, but he paid no mind, staring open mouthed at some spot just beyond the dozing old woman who was sitting in the ECO chair. The girl had no idea what he was looking at, there was nothing there but the work station, and there weren't any blaring alarms or red lights suddenly flashing. Then he closed his eyes and looked away, as if blocking out some disturbing vision.

_No way this guy is worth my father. Or that ECO. No way at all, _ Addy thought, gulping down a lump in her throat. She stared down at her still-clenched fist. Her hand was beginning to ache. After a moment's hesitation, she turned it over and opened it slowly, finally choosing to look and see what she'd held for so long. Nestled in the palm of her hand was a pendant of some sort... looking closer, she realized suddenly that it was a heart-shaped locket, hanging from intricately braided chain. Etched on the surface of the white gold were the words, 'I love you', entwined with delicate vines sprinkled with red and gold tinged flowers. She held her breath as she opened the locket to view the inside, and then her eyes blurred with tears at the sight of the picture inside. It was identical to the one she'd put into her backpack that morning. That morning. So much had happened it seemed like eons ago.

She closed it with a tiny click and then lifted it to clasp around her neck, closing her eyes and exhaling a deep shuddering breath as she tried not to break down completely.

Suddenly, the wireless com crackled, and a man's voice said, "Boomer, this is Apollo, do you read..?" That'd woken everyone up, and they were all leaning to look toward the front of the Raptor, expressions of hope on their faces. Was their rescue finally here?

Sharon aka 'Boomer' fumbled to grab her headset and put it on, speaking into the microphone, "Boomer here, reading you loud and clear Apollo. And am I ever glad to hear your voice, Captain," she responded, almost laughing with relief.

"It's good to hear you too." Apollo's voice was smooth and confident, which somehow reassured Addy. Somewhere, someone was in charge, and getting stuff done. "Sitrep?" That was a request for a situation report. As in, what the frak is going on there?

Taking a deep breath, Sharon answered, "Well we're drifting here right now, sir, trying to avoid contact with the Cylons. Caprica has been nuked, if you haven't heard. We were escorting the CAG's, I mean Captain Spencer's squadron to Caprica when we got ambushed by two Cylon raiders... " Her voice broke, then she said harshly, "Sir, it was a shooting gallery. We didn't have a chance. Our Raptor took a hit to the fuel line but we were able to limp on to Caprica. After landing, we nearly got run over by people fleeing the cities, got a few survivors on board here. Mostly children." She cleared her throat and then said in a pained voice, "Lieutenant Agathon chose to give up his seat to a civilian." Then her tone hardened, "Doctor Gaius Baltar took his place, and is on board with us now."

There was a moment of silence, and Apollo asked, "Boomer, did you say that Lieutenant Agathon stayed behind? On Caprica? And you have the Gaius Baltar with you?" surprise evident in his tone over the wireless.

"Affirmative, sir." Her tone indicated she had nothing more to say on the matter.

Apollo, whoever he was, got the hint. "Understood. Assure your passengers that we'll be there ASAP. Apollo out."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Help was on the way.

As Sharon started up the engines to the Raptor, the mood in the cabin was much lighter now. Which was a relief to Addy, the silence and aura of fear was starting to get to her. She was still scared, of course, but things seemed to be taking a turn for the better now, at least. No one seemed to be willing to be the first to speak, so finally she asked the pilot, "Is your name really 'Boomer?' I thought that, well I could have sworn I heard your ECO call you Sharon, or something like that."

There was a pause, and then the answer came, "I'm Lieutenant Sharon Valerii. My call sign is 'Boomer'. When pilots go through flight training, we all get different call signs, they're like nicknames that we use when we are in combat or doing ship business. Usually they're originally given by our first flight instructors. Some peoples are given by friends..." Her shoulder lifted in a shrug, "It just depends on the person."

The boy sitting in the chair opposite Boomer piped up, "I'm Boxey. And yes it's my real name and not a nickname," he added with a quick grin.

Addy introduced herself, nervously pushing a swath of her hair away from her cheek, "My name is Addison Lynford. Everyone calls me Addy though."

From there, they each took turns introducing themselves. The middle-aged bookkeeper's name was Edith Lambert. Marsie Colvinius was the young woman with the Geminon accent. She'd been on Caprica visiting family, and was pregnant. Waking from her doze, Portia Moehring was the grey-haired old woman. She gave her name and said nothing else before falling back asleep.

Gaius Baltar cleared his throat, and said in his cultured voice, "I'm Doctor Gaius Baltar," putting the slightest pompous emphasis on his title.

"I saw you on television yesterday," Edith Lambert said, her eyes studying the man's face. "On 'Spotlight'. Guess you were wrong, about how advancing computer technology and AI was a good idea," she stated bitterly.

His face went still at mention of the interview, and he sat up a little straighter, his eyes nervously darting left and right before allowing, "Yes, well..." Unwilling to complete the sentence, he looked down and to his right, clearly removing himself from the conversation.

Addy just shook her head as she stared at him, then turned her attention to the other kids on board, more interested in them than the adults anyway.

Tonio Savri sat directly opposite Addy, and was the oldest of the children on the Raptor. His frame was tall and gangly, and he moved with the awkward grace of someone who was enduring a recent growth spurt. He had nut-brown hued skin and a head crowned with short tightly curled black hair. His eyes were so dark they were almost black. The sixteen year old boy was also the only one lucky enough to have a family member on board in the form of his nine year old brother. While the two brothers did share the same skin tone and hair color, that's where the similarities ended. Riley was short and chubby in contrast to his tall sibling, and his dark eyes sparkled with mischief, where Tonio's were gentle and serious.

The blond haired blue-eyed boy to her left was named Julius Edmondson, of _the_ Edmondsons, he haughtily informed them. He was dressed in a fine silk pair of pajamas and rich blue terry cloth robe, and those were his only possessions. He seemed to regard all of them, with the exception of Gaius Baltar and the pilot, with barely concealed contempt, as if it were beneath him to be in such close personal contact with them. Addy had no trouble whatsoever picturing the twelve year old griping about how the end of the world had the audacity to wake him up before noon. The boy's father had been one of the ones to offer money in exchange for a ride off Caprica.

Carmen Avera made Addy feel like the monster Medusa straight from the old stories. She was a beautiful girl with blond hair that hung straight down her back, and had a natural grace that made her seem more mature than the thirteen years she claimed. She was the only one of them that didn't have smears of dirt and grime on her face and clothing. For all her poise though, her hazel eyes were bright and over-large in her face, showing she was feeling the same stress and worry the rest of them were.

Then, there was Samantha Whalen, a girl with mousy brown hair and equally non-descript brown eyes. She told the rest of them she was ten years old in a voice that was barely loud enough to be heard, even in the quiet confines of the Raptor cabin. Very subdued, she alternated between staring off into space and being overtaken by soft broken sobs.

The youngest of them all was the little boy with tousled sandy brown hair and he looked to be about six or seven years old. No one knew for sure, because he wasn't talking. Addy's mom would have looked at his solemn face and blue eyes and said, "He's looked the wind in the eyes." Meaning, he'd seen things few see and live through, and that had changed him. Oh, he could hear, and was aware of what was going on around him because he was clearly following the conversation. But he had an old man's knowledge of the world in a boy's mind and body, and that had stolen his ability to talk. Maybe permanently.

Marsie, the pregnant woman, studied the child and said quietly, "He's probably in shock. I was one of the first people to the ship, and he was already there... He wasn't with anyone though, no family. Not that I saw."

A beeping alarm went off up front near the pilot. "Dradis contact," Sharon said tersely, then with relief added, "Colonial signal," a moment later. "Looks like our ride is here."

The voice of the man they'd heard earlier came over the wireless, "Boomer, Apollo here. We have you on dradis. How are you and your passengers holding up?"

"Fine sir," Boomer replied with a grin, increasing the thrust on the Raptor's engine and turning it to head in the direction of the other ship's location on dradis.

Changing position so that she was on her knees, Addy peered around Lieutenant Valerii's chair, eager to see their rescue ship. It slowly came into view, a long blue and white shape against the blackness of space, the metal hull housing the FTL drives and engines flared behind it like an exotic flower. Something touched her arm and she started, surprised to find the silent blue-eyed boy at her side. He didn't look at her as he reached out to take her hand in his own much smaller one, his gaze was only for the gaping opening in the passenger ship ahead.

"Landing bay is clear for hands on approach. We will meet you on the hangar deck shortly," Apollo said.

"Copy that, sir," Sharon responded, and slowly glided the ship into the bay.

The Raptor came down surprisingly hard on the deck, the rough landing unbalancing Addy enough that she fell back into Baltar, who immediately shoved her away from him. "Sorry," she muttered, trying to reclaim her balance and finding herself aided by the tugging hand of the little boy. He'd grabbed onto the pilot's chair to keep his feet.

Sharon muttered, "Frakking gimbal," under her breath before glancing back at her passengers, "Sorry 'bout that." Her nimble fingers flipped switches on the console, shutting down the engines and finishing up the landing procedures. There was a metallic thunk as the maglock came on, securing the Raptor to the deck. This time, Addy was more prepared and had her hand on the framework as the deck began to lower, drawing the small ship and its contents into the hangar of the passenger vessel.

All of them stood up now, eager to finally be off the small ship. Addy bent down to pick up her backpack, her other hand still held in the boy's.

Tonio said quietly, "Thank you," to Sharon Valerii, ducking his head down with respect as he regarded her. "None of us would be here, if it weren't for you." Addy joined the others in murmuring, "Thank you," to the young pilot who'd rescued them from the ruins of Caprica. The words seemed inadequate to the enormity of what Valerii had done to get them off the planet and into relative safety.

Sharon flushed a little, saying, "I'm just sorry the ship wasn't big enough to save everyone." Her dark eyes swung accusingly to Gaius Baltar, who looked away. "Excuse me." She began working her way from the cockpit to the door of the Raptor, Boxey right behind her, and Addy pressed herself back to allow the two to pass in the cramped quarters. Sharon slapped the door control with the palm of her hand and waited impatiently for it to hiss open.

The door slowly lowered into a ramp, which Boomer and Boxey immediately clambered down to hop down onto the hangar deck . Wide-eyed, Addy inhaled the metallic scent of the ship as she unconsciously tightened her grip on the little boy's hand. She suddenly felt both nervous and afraid again, not quite ready to leave the Raptor. Doing so was like taking another step into the unknown. She glanced at Tonio and Carmen, and saw the same hesitancy on their faces.

Their welcoming party was small, consisting of only four people. A man dressed in blue coveralls, most likely a deckhand, stood beside two slender professional looking women in creamy white outfits. When no one seemed willing to walk down the ramp, the woman with short dark hair climbed up and gave them a comforting smile as she took Marsie Colvinius by the arm and helped her off the ship. "Come on," said the fourth person, a man in a Colonial fleet flight suit, gesturing her toward him and joining the deckhand in helping her down to the metal flooring.

"Excuse me," Marsie said thickly, "My husband... he is with the Colonial Fleet. In Geminon?" sensing that at the uniformed man was in charge. She looked at his face anxiously, seeking reassurance.

"The Colonial Fleet in Geminon," he repeated, as though trying to make a mental note of it. "I'll see what I can do. If you'll just step right this way?" he suggested, gesturing toward the other woman in white, who smiled welcomingly and led the pregnant woman away from the Raptor.

Addy and the little boy were next to go down the ramp, and as the man held out his hand for her to take, saying, "Come on," encouragingly in a voice that somehow seemed familiar, she realized that he must be 'Apollo'. He was surprisingly young. She supposed she expected that he'd be even older than her father, just from how he'd sounded over the wireless com. But looking at his unlined face and blue eyes, she suddenly doubted he was even out of his twenties. Still, for all his youth, he seemed very much in control of the situation, and the other three 'greeters' clearly deferred to him.

Boomer came over and touched the man's arm to get his attention, saying insistently, "Captain?" before leading him a few steps away to give him a rundown on what had all had happened. "I've got two communications pods left, sir. But that's it. No jiggers, no drones, no markers, nothing."

Moving to stand against the hangar wall while they waited for the rest of the kids to unload, Addy and the little boy both took the opportunity to take in their surroundings. The hangar deck seemed immense to her inexperienced eye, and the Raptor was right behind a small fighter ship that she recognized as a Viper. An old one at that, one that may have even dated back to the first Cylon war.

"Yeah, well, at least you still have your electronics suite," Apollo was saying. "That old crate of mine can barely navigate from A to B," he gestured at the Viper with a hint of disgust.

Sharon immediately said, "That old crate may have saved your life, sir," stiffening as she met his eyes.

Surprised, Apollo cocked his head slightly. "How's that?"

"The Viper Mark Sevens? The Cylons shut them down like they threw a switch or something," Lieutenant Valerii explained quickly. "I've been hearing reports like that from all over. The only fighters that have any success at all are either old or in need of some major overhaul."

The young Captain absorbed that, staring at his Viper thoughtfully, before catching sight of Gaius Baltar leaving the Raptor out of the corner of his eye. Jerking a thumb toward the man, he asked Valerii, "That him?"

"Yeah," she responded balefully, looking over at Baltar. "I hope he's worth it," she said sharply, loudly enough to cause those on the deck to look toward the two officers curiously. Addy's eyebrows shot upwards as Sharon said word for word what she'd been thinking ever since the ECO 'Helo' gave up his seat and allowed Gaius to board in his place. Apparently the girl wasn't the only one to have doubts about the doctor. Abashed, Sharon looked away from Apollo, as though surprised by her own outburst. "Sorry, sir."

"Don't be," Apollo said quietly, admitting, "I hope he's worth it too."

The two women helping with the Caprican survivors began to urge Addy and the others past Apollo and Boomer toward a hatch leading deeper into the belly of the passenger ship. "Doctor Baltar.. " As Gaius passed the two officers, Apollo turned quickly, briefly grabbing hold of the doctor's arm to get his attention before introducing himself, "Captain Lee Adama. The president's asked to see you."

Baltar looked confused for a moment, then said with surprise, "President Adar's alive?"

"No," Lee answered with a slight shake of his head, "I'm afraid Adar is dead. President Laura Roslin was sworn in a few hours ago."

"Who?" Gaius looked blankly at Apollo, clearly not recognizing the name.

The barest hint of a wry smile flickered across the officer's face at that reaction before vanishing, and he gestured toward some stairs. "If you'll come with me, she's this way."

Addy looked back over her shoulder at Boxey, who was staying right at Sharon Valerii's side. He met her eyes briefly before turning to follow Apollo, Boomer and Gaius Baltar up the stairs to the upper deck. He clearly didn't plan on leaving the young lieutenant's side until forced to.

"This way." Her guide's voice got her attention, and the girl stepped through the hatch into a walkway, the other children following behind. There was a quiet murmur of voices echoing in the metal hall from up ahead. "We finished loading all the people from another ship onto this one a little while ago. They're still getting settled in." She hesitated, then added, "I'm Tavani Rosel, by the way, and that's Anna Kersh," indicating the other woman. "We were both junior staff members for Miss Roslin.. I mean President Roslin," she corrected herself, giving a rueful smile. "It's... been a long day and we're still kind of figuring out what is going on."

Edith shifted her books in her arms, then asked pointedly, "What exactly is going on?" The Caprican survivors all looked toward the two staffwomen expectantly.

There was a slight pause as Tavani met Edith's eyes and then looked away. "Here's what we do know... the Cylons have launched massive attacks on all of the Colonies, near as we can tell. We were actually on our way back to Caprica from the Galactica's decommissioning ceremony when we found out."

Addy couldn't quite stifle a whimper, and ducked her head down so that her long hair hid her tears. All of the colonies had been hit then, not just Caprica. It was even worse than she'd imagined. The pregnant Geminon woman broke down, her quiet sobs were soon joined by cries from the others. The relief of being rescued had just been scoured away by realization of how bad things actually were.

Tavani continued quietly, "Right now, it seems like the Cylons are just going around from system to system and cleaning up. They've taken out a lot of the starbases and ships. They've already come after us twice, and thank the gods that Captain Apollo was our escort from the Galactica, he's saved us both times."

Anna, the shorter and darker haired of the two women, rubbed her head with a graceful hand, "I still have a headache from whatever he did the second time, but we're alive, so I can't complain too much. Anyway, a few hours ago, we found out President Adar and most of the cabinet were dead or missing. Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education under Adar, was next in line of succession, so she was sworn in as the President. Right now, we're engaged in rescue operations and trying to find a safe place to hide from the Cylons." Her expression indicated she sincerely hoped such a place existed.


	3. Chapter 3

By that time, they'd reached their destination, and Anna opened a hatch labelled 'Bay 3' before preceding the others into the cargo hold. "You guys are lucky, you'll get dibs on the sleeping arrangements, such as they are. We just finished moving the L containers into Bay 4 about an hour ago. Most of the other passengers are in Bays 1 and 2. They boarded right after we survived the first Cylon attack." She grimaced at that memory.

Walking into Bay 3 was like walking into a warehouse with high ceilings and supportive metal struts spaced evenly throughout the chamber. The lighting was bright but not blindingly so. There was a table immediately to the right of the causeway. A middle-aged man sitting there looked up from reading the clipboard in front of him and waved them over. "Check in here, please," he said briskly. "Name and colony?"

Anna waved them toward the table, "We're trying to keep track of who's on board with us, so that people have a better chance of finding relatives or friends. And it helps us know far our supplies will stretch. Phil here's been doing a great job," she gave the man a winning smile, which caused his business-like expression to soften a bit. "Speaking of supplies, there's some blankets down there," she pointed to some crates down at the opposite end of the bay. "No pillows, I'm afraid. Most people are just using rolled up clothes, that kind of thing. I suggest you claim an area of the floor as soon as possible, as there's no telling how much more crowded it's going to get in here. We'll just let you guys get settled... if you have any questions, just find someone and ask. Tavani, we'd better get back up top. The other woman nodded and a moment later, both were walking through the hatch, pulling it closed behind them.

"Come on and check in," Phil said again, gesturing toward his clipboard and picking up a pen. "Right now, we're just taking names, addresses and colonies. Why don't we start with you?" He pointed his pen in the direction of Marsie.

She stepped forward and gave him her name and address, which he dutifully wrote down. Brushing her hair to the side, Marsie asked, "Have you heard anything from Geminon?"

Phil hesitated, then looked up at her, his dark eyes flickering over the others as he considered his response. "What've you heard so far? I mean from Anna or whoever?" he finally asked.

"We heard that all of the Colonies had been attacked..."

Nodding, the grey-haired man said, "Yeah. Well, we know for sure that Picon was attacked. So were Aerilon, Caprica and Tauron. I think it's a pretty safe bet that if the Cylons attacked those four, all of them have been attacked. Word has it that Picon Fleet Headquarters was just about the first place to be hit, so the Fleet is... well we're hearing a lot of things right now, and trying to figure out what is reliable information and what isn't, but the wireless is just flooded with reports and rumors."

At that revelation, Addy turned away as if physically stricken, a broken sob escaping before her lifted hand could stifle the sound. Her mother was on escort duty at Picon, and if the headquarters had been destroyed... She couldn't bear to finish the thought.

Continuing as he gave them a sympathetic look, Phil said, "The government ordered a full stop on all civilian vessels when the attacks began, so I guess there's a lot of ships drifting around out there, hoping for a rescue from... well from whoever. Anyway, so we've got some people from that Geminon liner already on board. From what I've heard, President Roslin is determined to pick up survivors as we can cram into this ship, which reminds me... so who's up next?" He looked expectantly toward them.

Marsie interjected, "Wait, a Geminon liner? Were there any Colonial troops on it?" she asked, her eyes filled with desperate hope.

"I don't think so," was Phil's doubtful response. "You can go check though, in the other bays." Pointing, he directed, "Just go through that hatch, and then down the hall to your left.. Bay 1 and Bay 2 are right across from each other, they've got the names of who all's on the ship at some tables set up in there, so just find someone with a name tag and ask. Now then, Next?" The pregnant woman had disappeared through the door before he'd even finished speaking.

After whispering something to Riley, Tonio took a step toward the man at the table, only to be elbowed aside by the pajama clad Julius.

"It's my turn," the boy said imperiously, squaring his shoulders. "My name is Julius Edmondson and my father is Claren Edmondson, the president of the First Bank of Caprica City. I demand suitable clothing for someone of my stature, a bath, a private room, and..."

"Hold it right there, boy," Phil rested an elbow on his table and tilted his jaw up as he looked at the rich brat in the eye. "First, if you wanted some fancy schmantzy clothing to wear, you should have had the foresight to bring them. There's some spare clothing in the bins over there," he jerked a thumb in the direction of some large metal crates just past the tables. "There's some baths but you will have to wait in line just like everyone else, and given how long the line is, you will be waiting quite a while. Even with a three minute timer on the showers. And finally, this is a passenger luxury liner. Not a floating resort. Right now, no one has their own private room on this ship, including the President of the Colonies. So I suggest you get a blanket and find a spot. Or you're going to be using that nice robe as a blanket."

Julius stood there, mouth agape at the old man's unexpected response, and then seemed to visibly deflate, his blue eyes tearing up for a brief moment before he turned away with a choked, "Fine." Addy studied him surreptitiously from underneath her eyelashes as he turned to make his way over to the supply crates, suddenly realizing he'd been clinging to his arrogance and pride, using them as an emotional shield. They were the only things that had kept him from breaking down along with the rest of them earlier while on the Raptor.

Riley stared at Julius before he snorted derisively, "What a frakkin' wanker... Ow!" He rubbed his shoulder and glared up at his older brother, muttering, "Well he is."

"You should meet his father," Phil commented, writing on the paper in front of him, then looking at Riley expectantly. "Name and colony?"

"Riley Savri, and this is my brother Tonio," the boy said.

Tonio added solemnly, "We're from Caprica. Are there many other Capricans on board? Besides us, I mean?"

"Actually, this ship was based out of Caprica City, so most of the crew and the original passengers are Capricans like you," the grey haired man said with a rueful smile. "We're all in the same boat, I think. Literally, now. But you're welcome to go check on the lists for friends, family, and the like."

"Thank you, we will," said Tonio.

Riley grabbed his brother's arm and yanked him toward the crates, "Come on, I wanna see what all they got. Let's hurry before the wanker gets all the good stuff." Tonio coughed to hide a laugh.

Addy stepped forward, her hand still clasped in that of the little boy's, "Addison Lynford. Of Caprica," she said simply and watched as Phil wrote her name down in neat print.

"And who's this with you?" the man asked, giving the child a smile. "Your brother? You don't look anything alike."

"That's because we're not related," Addy explained. "I really don't know what his name is. He hasn't said a word since we all got on the Raptor. Someone said he must be in shock or something."

The boy just stood there, hand loosely held in Addy's, his small face expressionless as he looked at Phil.

"Maybe he's deaf?" Phil suggested, and then leaned forward to ask loudly, "What is your name?" That got no reaction.

Addy shook her head, "He can hear, we're pretty sure. Cause when we were talking on the way here, he'd look from person to person. Like he was paying attention to the conversation, you know?" As she spoke, the child briefly shifted his gaze from Phil to her and back again.

Phil scratched his head with the end of the pen, noting, "Well I have to put something besides 'some little boy' on here. What about if we say some names, and see if he responds. Let's see. Is your name, uh, Jake? Sebastian? Caesar? Verlon?" He rattled off a few more names, none of which the child so much as twitched at, and gave an impatient sigh, looking at Addy with a raised eyebrow.

Addy thought about it for a moment, and then gave a small shrug, "Maybe we could just give him like, a nickname. You know? Something that we could call him by until he starts talking. Kind of like a pilot's call sign. What do you think?"

"Whatever works," Phil rolled his eyes.

"I think it's a good idea," Samantha said shyly, standing behind Carmen, who merely shrugged and asked, "So what name? Or call sign, or whatever..."

Addy looked around the room, trying to come up with a suitable name. Suddenly, one came to her, and she said, "Lykos."

The boy's blue eyes rose immediately to meet Addy's after she said the name, and Phil was already writing it down. "Lykos it is. Since he hasn't said he hates it," the man grinned. "Besides, that got more of a reaction out of him than anything else that we've said so far, so I'd say that's an accomplishment in and of itself. Now then, if the rest of you will let me get you checked in..."

Addy took the hint, and smiling down at 'Lykos', walked toward the supply crates. "I do hope you like the name," she said quietly to the child. "If you don't, I guess just don't bother answering to it. Let's get some blankets, and see what else we can find in these bins that's of any use."

The few hours passed by in a blur as they all got settled in Bay 3. Addy was the only one fortunate enough to have had time to pack up some belongings from home. Even with the meager selection of clothing stuffed in her backpack, she was still better off than the rest of them, who had to rummage through the supplies for things to wear.

There'd been some discussion over where the best place to set up their bedding would be, but in the end it was Lykos who made the final choice. He watched them point and gesticulate for a few minutes. Then he walked off and carefully spread his blanket on the floor on the opposite side of the hatch door from the check in table. The grate of an air vent was set into the wall there, and he pushed his bedding against the wall directly underneath it before laying down.

As Addy shook out her own blanket next to his, she realized the wisdom of his choice. It was fairly close to the door if they had to evacuate. The lighting over here was also bright enough to function, but not so bright that it'd be difficult to sleep. All of the Caprican survivors set up their gear in the same area, including Julius. It was as though they were reluctant to leave the familiarity of each other, even in light of the expanded conditions aboard Colonial One.

Marsie had returned from checking the survivor lists in the other bays and judging from the hollow look in her eyes, had no luck in discovering the fate of her husband. Portia, the old woman, stretched out on her bedding and fell asleep as soon as she had it set up. Samantha and the bookkeeper seemed to have found in each other some kind of common thread. The girl was sitting on the older woman's blanket and studying one of her books. Julius had muttered something about needing a bath more than an hour ago. The rest were probably checking out the rapidly dwindling amount of supplies in the other bays.

There'd been no sign of Boxey since he vanished with Lieutenant Valerii, but word among the other passengers was that President Roslin had sent the Raptor pilot out in search of other stranded ships to lead back to their coordinates. Supposedly, there were more than fifty other ships out there now, all gathered around Colonial One. Word had it Roslin had even been out and visited one of the ships, but she was back on board now. Bay 3 had slowly begun to fill up with survivors from some of those ships. There was a long line of people waiting to check in at Phil's table.

Addy was too keyed up to sleep. She got to her feet and made her way through the tired looking new arrivals near the hatchway, muttering a quiet "Excuse me," as she slipped through the line and out the causeway. The hall was moderately crowded, people seemed to be going from one cargo hold in search of family, friends, and any usable goods. Most of them were talking quietly. After a moment's thought, she turned to head away from the bays, back toward the hangar deck. As she reached the door, she noticed a pair of stairs at the opposite end of the hallway. A sign on the wall there designated the stairs as leading to the upper decks, where the economy and business class seats were for the commercial transport. She'd have to check that out later.

She opened the hangar bay door and slipped through. As she pulled the door to close it behind her, it stuck as though blocked. Startled, Addy looked back to see that Lykos had followed her from Bay 3. She gave him a quick smile and said quietly, "I thought you were sleeping, sorry," as she moved aside to let him pass before closing the door and sealing it with a twist of the handle.

The hanger deck seemed to be empty, save for the old Viper and a few large pieces of machinery near to it. The Raptor was gone, out searching for more stranded ships presumably. After the growing crowd of people in the cargo bays, it was wonderfully quiet here.

Addy walked toward the Viper, Lykos trailing a few feet behind. "I saw one of these at the Space Museum in Caprica City. Not this close though, they had it hanging in one of those ceiling displays, you know?" She inhaled, taking in the sharp acrid scent of metal and char and soot, observing, "It's funny. In museums, everything is so, I don't know, clean. This one seems so much more real, or something. Burn marks, scorched metal and all."

Lykos, unsurprisingly, had no response.

The quiet murmur of voices echoed down the long bay, and looking toward the far end of the hangar, Addy saw one of the deckhands in conversation with Captain Apollo. A few more words were exchanged before the young officer caught sight of them and began walking purposefully toward them.

_Uh-oh_, Addy thought.

"This area is off-limits to civilians except for loading and unloading," Apollo told them with a frown.

Addy said apologetically as she glanced down at Lykos, "I'm sorry, sir, we didn't know. There's just so many people in the cargo bays now, and we were getting kind of antsy and decided to go exploring. That and, well I've never seen one of these outside of a museum so wanted a closer look," she gestured at the Viper. "Is it a Mark Two, or a Mark Three?"

Apollo's blue eyes blinked with surprise, and then he answered, "It's a Viper Mark Two... The Mark Threes have the extra venting..."

"...Extra venting along the tail," Addy completed the sentence with him, then grinned suddenly as he turned to look at her, eyebrows raised inquisitively. "I remember now. Museums and reading about them in books is pretty different from seeing them up close like this though. I bet I don't forget it again." She pointed in the direction of the machinery, "Now what're those? They didn't have any pictures of anything like those in our copy of _Ships of the Colonial Fleet_ book."

Flicking his gaze toward the equipment, Captain Apollo responded, "Because they're not ships, would be my guess," a slight smile appearing on his face.

Addy laughed, nodding, "Good point. So? What are they?"

"They're electric pulse generators from the battlestar _Galactica_. They were loaded on this ship right after the decommissioning ceremony."

"Pulse generators?" Addy looked from the coils to Apollo, and asked, "These are the things you used to save the ships before, right? When the Cylons came and attacked?" At his startled expression, she gestured toward the cargo bays, "Everyone's talking about it. I mean, how you've saved the ship twice now. By shooting down an incoming missile before it could hit, and then doing something with these to stop another Cylon attack, though no one seems to know exactly what you did. They remember the headache afterward, though." A rueful smile appeared on her face. "It's just about the only positive thing anyone will talk about, honestly. Beats hearing more bad news about the war." Her eyes dropped to look at the little boy's solemn face as he stood there, listening.

Apollo hesitated and gave a brief nod. "Yeah, well, we got lucky, believe me, especially the second time. I still can't believe it actually worked," he admitted, then studied first Addy, then Lykos speculatively. "You were on Boomer's ship, right? Lieutenant Valerii's Raptor, with the survivors from Caprica?"

"Yes sir. We wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for her. Her and Helo," Addy said sadly, thinking back to the tall ECO who'd given up his seat. She gave a slight shake of her head as if to dispel the image, and then looked back at the Viper, changing the subject, "Hey, is your name really Captain Apollo? Or is that a call sign, like Lieutenant Valerii being called Boomer? I'm just plain old Addison Lynford. Well, no, people call me Addy. And this is Lykos," she indicated the little boy.

"No, I'm Captain Lee Adama," the young officer said. "Apollo is just my call sign, though everyone on this ship does seem to prefer calling me Captain Apollo." He looked from Addy to Lykos, and gave the child a smile that seemed slightly uncertain. "So Addy, is Lykos your brother?"

"My brother?" Addy echoed with surprise. "Oh no.. No relation, as if we looked anything alike," she grinned, lifting a shank of her dark brown, then brushing her fingers through Lykos' blond locks. "In fact, we're not even sure what his real name is. He hasn't said a word to anyone this whole time. They say he's in shock or something, but hopefully he'll get over it. Anyway, so we figured we had to call him something besides 'that kid' or whatnot, figured it was as good a name as any. He doesn't seem to mind it, do you Lykos?"

The blue-eyed child looked from Apollo to Addy, saying nothing.

"Lykos. Wolf. You know, in the old stories, Apollo used to have to protect the flocks from wolves. I hope you don't make me do the same," Lee flashed Lykos a friendly grin that faded fast at the little boy's total lack of response. Discomfited, he said apologetically, "Okay, bad joke. Sorry. I've never really been good with kids."

Addy looked blankly at Apollo. Wasn't she a kid? He wasn't doing all that bad, not like some other grownups had, who talked down to her like she was deaf and stupid. Reassuringly, she informed him, "It's not you. He just... doesn't react a whole lot to anything emotionally. I haven't seen him smile yet. Or frown or cry for that matter." She tousled the boy's hair affectionately, then took his hand in hers. Then something occurred to her, and she frowned up at the Colonial officer, "Wait, if you're Captain Lee 'Apollo' Adama, then who's.. Lieutenant William 'Husker' Adama?" pointing at the ship where the name was written just below the cockpit.

Captain Apollo's amiable demeanor vanished at that question, and his blue eyes went icy. "William Adama is my father. He's Commander Adama now, of the battlestar _Galactica_," he said flatly. "This was his ship."

Addy may have only been fourteen, but she could tell a sore subject when she saw one. _Ok, he's definitely not on the best of terms with his father_. "Oh. Well, uh. I guess Lykos and I better get going anyway, right?" She smiled at the child. "It was nice meeting you, Captain Apollo." She squared her shoulders and gave him a crisp salute that would have made her mother proud.

"Likewise, Addy, Lykos," Lee nodded, returning the salute with equal formality, and seemed on the verge of saying something else when a voice suddenly came over the PA system, saying urgently, "Captain Apollo, please report to First Class immediately."

"Frak," Apollo cursed, immediately turning to make his way toward the stairs. As he walked away with quick strides, he tossed over his shoulder, "Don't let me catch you two in the hangar bay again without a good excuse," and a few moments later he was through the door at the top of the steps and gone.

Addy and Lykos worriedly watched him go and then she said in a small voice, "Hope it's not the Cylons again."

As Addy looked around the hangar again, thinking of how much more peaceful and sane it was compared to the crowded and chaotic conditions in the cargo bays where so many passengers were quartered. Giving the child's hand a slight squeeze to get his attention, she met his blue eyes with her own and cocked one eyebrow. "Well. I guess we'll just have to come up with a better excuse then, next time we come here, what do you think?"

Lykos smiled.


End file.
